1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to guitars, and, more particularly, to electric guitars utilizing acoustic pickups.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
In guitars of the prior art, there are primarily two types, solid body guitars and hollow body guitars. The solid body guitars are, of course, strictly electric guitars, with acoustic coupling not being a factor. Rather, pickups are designed to magnetically detect the vibration of steel strings and to transduce the magnetic output to sound. In acoustic type guitars, either steel strings or nylon strings vibrate over an acoustic chamber, which is the hollow guitar body, and an acoustic pickup can be utilized to transduce the vibrations into amplified sound. There are, of course, magnetic pickups which may also be utilized with acoustic guitars.
For acoustic guitars, the guitar body is generally made of relatively thin wood so that the entire guitar body, including the top, the sides, and the bottom, resonates with the vibrating air in response to the vibration of the strings. This is, of course, the general theory behind all string-type instruments. However, with the advent of electronics, guitars having magnetic pickups, and thus not requiring acoustic chambers, have been developed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,730 (Adams) discloses an acoustic guitar with a particular internal bracing system. Except for the bracing system, this patent exemplifies acoustic or hollow body guitars, with the relatively thin wall construction, the open acoustic chamber, and the sound hole through the guitar top.
When hollow body acoustic guitars are used, there are apertures in the top plate to provide access for the air within the acoustic chamber of the guitar. Solid body guitars do not require openings because they do not have acoustic or resonating sound chambers. In solid body guitars, the only chambers within the guitar body are for the housing of pickups, controls, etc., and are not for the purpose of sound modification.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,748 (Shaw et al) discloses a solid body guitar with a false sound hole and several cavities in the body for containing various electronic components. The guitar apparatus also includes a chamber or cavity beneath the bass side of the bridge to allow the bass side of the bridge to move and flex. None of the chambers or cavities is for the purpose of modifying sound or providing a resonating chamber.